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Gartner Expert
Grant Faulkner Nelson
VP, Team Manager
Grant Nelson is a Vice President and Team Manager at Gartner, where he leads research on Planning, Data and Analytics for finance leaders. Since joining Gartner in 2019, Grant has become known for constructively challenging CFOs and FP&A leaders to rethink entrenched assumptions about data, analytics and AI—and to focus instead on practical, outcome‑driven approaches that actually work in the real world.
Grant brings more than 22 years of practitioner experience across data and analytics strategy, data governance and master data management, advanced analytics and AI, finance centers of excellence, FP&A, and management reporting. This background allows him to meet finance leaders where they are—whether they’re modernizing foundations, scaling advanced capabilities, or navigating AI adoption under real-world constraints.
He holds an MBA from Georgia State University’s Robinson College of Business and a B.S. in International Affairs from the University of Colorado Boulder. Outside of Gartner, Grant is a former rugby player who enjoys staying active and coaching his daughters’ sports teams.
Previous experience
Founded a hybrid analytical center of excellence (COE)
Executive sponsor of Data Governance
Directed the customer relationship management (CRM) Platform development & management
Directed the Integration Management Office
Spearheaded Periodic Planning and Budgeting
Drove strategic plan implementation & measurement
Assessed competitive and market values, strategies, threats and opportunities.
Professional background
Genuine Parts Company (d.b.a. NAPA Auto Parts), Vice President, Strategic Financial Analytics, 22 years
Areas of coverage
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Financial Planning, Data and Analytics
Education
M.B.A.; Marketing; Georgia State University (Robinson College of Business)
B.S.; International Affairs; University of Colorado, Boulder
Top Issues That I Help Clients Address
Finance Data and Analytics Strategy
Finance Metrics, Insights and Storytelling
Finance Data & Analytics Governance, MDM and Data Integration
Managerial Reporting and Analytics and Business Intelligence (A&BI) Dashboards
Advanced Analytics, Data Science & AI